Glass stopper and bottle grinding machine



Nov; 1937. J. H. ROBERTS ET AL GLASS STOPPER AND BOTTLE GRINDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 26, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet l chm 66 ff. jiaiiezzs 7 (Zarles VA c/zauer Y- 7- J. H. ROBERTS ET AL 2,097,575

GLASS STOPPER AND BOTTLE GRINDING MACHINE" Filed Aug. 26, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 t 4M A? ,i i, iam

t a I a/dmes ]2 flake/2% Ckaries Kflckauew Patented Nov. 2, 1937 oases srorrnn Ann no'r'rLE GRINDING MACHINE .i 3122135 Fri. Roberts'and Charles V. Achauer, Zanesville, Callie, assignors to Hazel-Atlas Glass Company, VJest Virginia Application August 26,

9 Claims.

ihe invention relates to a machine for automatically grinding together bottle stoppers and bottle necks, to assure an exact fit. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine which will automatically and efficiently grind the stoppers and necks with great rapidity and accuracy.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a machine in which further grinding action will be automatically stopped when the neck and stopper have been ground to the desired fit.

A furth r object of the invention is to provide improved means for applying abrasive material to the stopper, preferably at each reciprocation of the parts.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved means for releasing the stopper and bottle when the grinding operation is completed.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, from the following detailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the machine.

Figure 2 is a detail elevational View of the trigger locking mechanism, in locked position.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the machine.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view of the stopper gripping mechanism.

Figure 5 is a detail end view of the gripper jaws.

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 6--% of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line l1 of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a vertical transverse sectional View of the bottle slide, taken on line 8-8 of Figure 1.

Figure 9 is a detail View of the mechanism for moving the bottle slide to a position to release the bottle, taken on line 9-9 of Figure 7, and

Figure 10 is a detail elevational view, parts being in section, of the mechanism for applying the abrasive to the stopper.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, numeral l indicates a motor which, by means of sprocket chain 2, continuously rotates a shaft 3 mounted on table Fixed to this shaft is a mitre gear 5 in mesh with a gear 6 fixed to a shaft '1 extending longitudinally of the table, and mounted in bearings 8.

The continuously revolving shaft 1 carries a 55 friction disc 9 which is intermittently engaged Wheeling, W. Va., a corporation of 1936, Serial No. 98,000 7 by a friction disc loslidably mounted on and rotatable with the stopper spindle I]. When these friction discs are engaged the spindle is rotated to rotate the glass stopper carriedthereby. a I

The preferred means for mounting the stopper on the spindle, will now be described. Numeral i2 refers to a collar attached to the spindle II by means of a set screw l3. Numeral l4 indicates two gripper jaws which have their rear ends removably attached to the collar, and their forward ends normally urged apart by means of springs is. The stopper 16, which is to be ground, is gripped between these jaws. Numeral ll refers to a cylindrical sleeve which is slidabiy keyed to the spindle H, and which is normally urged into telescopic relation over the clamping jaws M, by means of coil spring I8. This movement of the sleeve in cooperation with the tapered walls of the clamping jaws, brings the jaws together to grip the stopper [6." To assemble the clamping device the sleeve is moved to the left (Fig. 4) against spring I8, ,to expose the collar I2. The grooves in the rear ends of the jaws are then placed over a tongue provided on the collar l2, and the sleeve isthen released and is movedto'telescopic relation with the jaws by means of .the spring l8. jTo release th stopper after it hasbeen ground only a slight movement of the sleevefto the left (Fig. 4') is necessary, whereupon the springs I5 will separate the jaws to release thistop'per. The means for moving the sleeve to release the stopper, and the meansfor stopping the rotation of .the spindle M, will now be described. Numeral i9 refers to a foot-treadle which is connected to a lever20 by niean'sof a link 2|, so that when the foot-.treadle is depressed theupper arm of the lever 20 will be moved to the left (Fig. 1) the l'ever'being' normally moved in the opposite direction by coil spring 22, to maintain the foot-treadle in elevated position.

The upper arm of the lever 20 is connected by means of a link 23, with one arm of'a lever 24; the other arm of the'lever. 24 being connected with a collar 25 attached to'thefriction disc 110. Thus when the-foot-treadle is depressed the fric tion clutch is thrown out, thereby breaking the connection between the stopper spindle and its driving mechanism. 1

The depression of the foot-treadle also releases the stopper. Attached to the upper arm of lever 2llis'a link 26, which link has its opposite end connected to a lever zlifulcrumed at 28; The

forward end of this lever engages a collar 2 9. provided on the clamping sleeve I7. So that when the upper end of lever 20 is moved to the left by the depression of the foot lever, the clamping sleeve ll will also be moved to the left (Fig. 3), thereby releasing the clamping jaws and permitting them to be separated by the springs IE, to release the stopper. Another stopper is now placed between the jaws and the foot-treadle released, whereupon the spring 22 will move the lever 20 in the opposite direction, thereby clamping the stopper in place and'throwingin the friction clutch to cause rotation of the stopper spindle H. While we have illustrated only a single stopper spindle, it will of course be understood that any desired number of these spindles may be arranged in series, be driven from the shaft 3, and the several spindles tended by the same operator.

The mechanism for holding the bottle to be' ground with the stopper, and for reciprocating the'bottle toward and from the stopper, will now be described. Numeral 3 0 refers to the bottom plate of a s'lide'adapted to be reciprocated on "tracks 3! extending from the table 4. Four studs 32 extend upwardly from the bottom plate and mounted thereon is the upper plate 33 ofthe slide or carriage. Springs 34 are mounted on the. studs between the bottom and top plates,

and nuts 35 are threaded on the upper ends of a the studs. Thus by adjusting these nuts the upper plate, which carries the bottle to be ground, can be vertically adjusted to align the bottle neck with the stopper.

Numeral 36 refers to a pad or wood block mounted in the upper'plate of the slide. Different blocks areused for bottles of diiferent shapes and sides; the block beingdished out to receive with a snug'fit a bottle 31' of a particular size and shape. By reference to Figure 3 it will be noted that the block or pad 36 is of somewhat less width than the distance between the side walls of the upper plate 33. Thumb screws 38 mounted in the slide engage the sides of the block, and by adjusting these thumb screws: the block can be accurately adjusted laterally. The block can also be adjusted vertically in the upper slide or carriage by means of shims 39 (Fig. 8).

The bottle slide is reciprocated by means of'a cam 40 fixed. to a continuously rotating shaft 4|. This shaft'is provided atone end with a worm wheel 42 engaged by a worm 43 on a shaft 44. The opposite end of the shaft 44 carries a mitre gear 45 meshing with a similar gear 46 on the shaft 3, whereby the continuous rotation of the shaft 3 causes the continuous rotation of the shaft 4|.

cam 40. This lever 41 is connected by a link 49. with a'lug 50 fixed to and projecting downwardly from the bottle slide 33. Thus the movement'of the cam 40 will cause the bottle slide to bemoved away from the stopper, and as the cam recedes a coil spring 5|, having its ends connected to the slide and to the table 4, will cause the slide to move toward the stopper, bring-' ing the bottle and stopper into grinding relation;

During this reciprocation of the bottle slide, the bottle 31. is secured in the block or pad 36 by means of a clamp 52 attached to arms 53 which are pivotally mounted at 54 on the upper plate 33 of the slide. The clamp is normally held 'in engagement with the bottle by means of a coil spring 55. The arms 53 extend below their pivots 54, and when the grinding has been completed and theslide is moved backwardly to releasethe Numeral 4'! refers to a lever fulcrumed on a' rod 48 and adapted to be engaged by the s ews bottle, in a manner to be later described, the arms 53 engage pins 56, thereby lifting the clamp from the bottle.

The above-described reciprocation of the bottle slide continues until the bottle and stopper have been sufiici'entlyrground and further reciprocaby Figure 1, and the second or operative position being illustrated by Figure 2. The trigger is retained in either of'its two positons by means of a coil spring 5i having one end attached to an arm 62 extending downwardly from the bracket 63,:and its other end attached to a cross-bar 63 extending between the two arms of. the bellcrank lever 58. When the bell-crank lever is in its inoperative positon (Fig. 1) it is abutting against an adjustable screw 64 and is maintained in that positon by the spring 6 i and when the lever is moved slightly to the left, the spring snaps it over into operative positon.

When the trigger is in its inoperative position, the bottle carriage is free to reciprocate back and forth, to bring the bottle and stopper into and out of grinding relation, without the finger 5? engaging a bolt 55, threadedly mounted for adjustment in-the bell-crank lever. But when the grinding has continued to the extent desired the movement of the carriage will be such that the finger 51 will engage the bolt 55 to thereby slightly move the. trigger to the left, whereupon the spring- Bi will snap the trigger into its operative position. Then as the carriage moves back the finger 57 will ride over the upper end of the arm 66 of the bell-crank lever, and it will spring upwardly into the notch 61 provided at the lower end of finger 51, and further forward movement of the carriage is prevented by reason of the arm 56 engaging the abrupt shoulder fill on the finger 57; it being understood of course, that the cam 43 which reciprocates the bottle carriage continues its rotation, but-it is no longer effective in reciproeating the carriage.

The grinding of the bottle and stopper has been completed, and the bottlecarriage has been locked in inoperative position; The bottle is now released by the mechanism to be described. Attached to the previously described foot-treadle i9 is a link 69 which has its other'end connected to arm if! of bell-crank lever 'H fulcrumed on the rod 48. The

other arm 12 is pivotally attached to a hollow cylindrical member '53 which is closed at its rear end, but open at its forward end to telescopically receive a connecting rod M. This connecting rod is freely slidable in the cylinder, and its opposite end is connected to the lug 59 which projects downwardly from the bottom of the bottle slide or carriage.

.When the bottle carriage is reciprocated back and forth in the normal operation of grinding the bottle and stopper, the rod 74 merely slides back and forth in the cylinder; the end of the rod al most but not quite reaching the closed end of the cylinder. When the grinding operation has been completed and the reciprocating movement of the carriage has been automatically stopped, the foot-treadle is depressed thereby moving the cylinder l3to the right ,(Fig. 9), whereupon the 75 closed end of the cylinder engages the end of the connecting rod 74 and moves the carriage rearwardly. As the carriage is thus moved rearwardly the arms 58 of the bottle clamp 52 engage the pins 58, thereby lifting the clamp and releasing the bottle. counterweight l5, adjustably attached to the bell-crank lever moves the carriage back to operative position when the foot-treadle is released. The above-described rearward move ment of the bottle carriage also causes the finger 51 to ride over the arm 56 of the trigger mechanism, pushing it slightly to the right, whereupon the spring 32 snaps it into inoperative position against the screw 64, thereby permitting normal operation of the bottle carriage when the foottreadle is raised.

Thus the depression of the foot-treadle releases the ground bottle and resets the trigger; and, as hereinbefore described the depression of this foot-treadle at the same time releases the bottle stopper and throws out the friction clutch. Another stopper and bottle are now inserted, the foot-treadle is released, and the grinding is resumed. As stated above the foot-treadle is ordinarily depressed after the reciprocation of the bottle carriage has been automatically stopped; but it will be apparent that the foot-treadle may be depressed at any time, without regard to the automatic stop mechanism, whereupon it will perform the same operations as described above. Thus the operator has complete control over the machine at all times.

We have described the construction and operation of the complete mechanism for grinding the bottles and stoppers, and we shall now describe the mechanism for applying the abrasive material to the stopper, preferably at each reciprocation of the bottle carriage. Nurneral i6 refers to a mitre gear keyed to the shaft ii and meshing with a similar gear Tl keyed to a vertical shaft l8, whereby the vertical shaft is continuously rotated. Mounted on the upper end of this shaft l8 is a crank arm l9 which is connected, by means of a link 80, with one arm of a lever 8i fulcrumed at 82 on the table t. The other arm of the lever M has the abrasive-applying brush 83 mounted thereon, in a manner to permit the brush to be raised and lowered. In the specific construction illustrated numeral 8 indicates a plate held in place on the lever 3! by means of the pins 85 and 86. The pin 85 has a spring Bl mounted thereon to normally hold the plate down against the lever, and the pin 85 prevents the plate from moving to either side yet permits it to have free movement in an upward direction by reason of the elongated opening 88.

The forward end of the plate 35 has a downwardly extending flange 89, upon which the abrasive-applying brush 83 is mounted. Numeral 9c refers to an abrasive container, and the brush is shown in Fig. 10 in lowered position in the abrasive material. In applying the abrasive material to the stopper the brush is lifted from the container as it moves toward the stopper, and after clearing the container it is lowered to bring it into engagement with the stopper; and on the return trip the brush is raised as it approaches the container and then lowered when it is over the container. To accomplish this movement we provided an arcuate cam track having a low portion 9! and a hump portion 92; and a roller 93 carried by the downwardly extending flange 89 rides on the arcuate cam track. Assuming the parts are in the positions shown in Figures 3 and 10, with the roller 93 on the low portion 9! of the cam and the brush submerged in the abrasive material, then the continued rotation of the crank arm 19 causes the lever M to be swung toward the stopper l6. When this travel starts the roller 93 rides up on the hump 92 to lift the brush clear of the con tainer, and as the movement continues the roller rides down 01f the hump thereby lowering the brush so that it will, upon further movement, engage the stopper and apply the abrasive thereto. The continued rotation of the crank causes the reverse movement of the brush, so that as it approachesthe container it is elevated by the roller engaging the hump, and as the movement continues the roller rides down the hump onto the low portion 9i of the cam, to lower the brush into the abrasive material. I

As will be apparent from the construction illustrated and described, the brush makes one complete oscillation every time the bottle? carriage makes a complete reciprocation, and of course the parts are synchronized so that the brush applies the abrasive material to the stopper While the bottle is clear of the stopper.

The operation of the machine has been described in connection with the description of the construction, and will be clearly understood without further description. It will be apparent that we have devised a completely automatic machine which will rapidly and accurately grind together glass stoppers and bottle necks; that the forward movement of the bottle into engagement with the stopper is caused by a spring action, whereby the bottle is gradually moved farther and farther upon the stopper as the grinding proceeds; that further reciprocation of the bottle is automatically prevented after the grinding has proceeded to the desired extent; that abrasive material is periodically applied to the stopper; and that the release of the bottle, the release of the stopper, and the stopping of the stopper spindle rotation are all accomplished by the depression of a single foot-treadle. V

While we have described in detail the preferred construction of the machine, yet it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made in the construction'without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the claims. Also, as previously mentioned, any desired number of stopper spindles and associated parts may be arranged side by side, be operated from the single driving shaft, and be tended by the same operator.

What we claim is:

1 A machine for grinding together glass bottle necks and stoppers, including means for holding a stopper, means for holding a hottle, means for rotating one of the articles,

means for periodically moving one of the articles into and out of grinding relation with the other article, and mechanism for automatically stopping such periodic movement when the stopper has reached a predetermined seating position in the bottle neck.

2. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including means for holding a stopper, means for holding a bottle, means for rotating one of the articles, means for periodically moving one of the articles into and outer grinding relation with the other article, an abrasive-applying brush, and means for moving the brush over the stopper each time the articles are separated.

3. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including means for holding a stopper, means for holding a bottle, means for rotating-one of the articles, means for periodically' separating the bottle and stopper, spring means or the like for periodically bringing the bottle and stopper into grinding relation, whereby the extent of movement toward each other is gradually increased as the grinding action proceeds, an abrasive-applying brush, an abrasive con-' tainer, and means for periodically moving the brush from the container to the stopper.

4. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including means: for holding a stopper, means for holding a bottle, means for rotating one of the articles, means for periodically moving one of the articles into and out of grinding relation with the other article, mechanism for automatically stopping such periodic movement when the stopper has reached a predetermined seating position in thebottle neck, and

means for applying abrasive material to one of the articles.

5. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including means for holding a stopper, means for holding a bottle, means for rotating one of the articles, means for periodically separating the bottle and, stopper, spring means or the like for periodically bringing the bottle and stopper into grinding relation, whereby the extent of movement toward each other is gradually increased as the grinding action proceeds, and mechanism for automatically stopping such periodic movement when the stopper has reached a predetermined seating position in'the bottle neck.

6. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including means for holding a stopper, means for holding a bottle, means for rotating one of the articles, means for periodically moving one of the articles into and out of grinding relation with the other article, mechanism for automatically stopping such periodic movement when the stopper has reached a predetermined seating position in the bottle neck, and manually operatedmeans for stopping such periodic movement at any time; I

7. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including means for holding a stopper,- means for holding a'bottle, means for rotat ing one of the articles, means for periodically moving one of the articles into and out of grinding relation with the other article, means for automatically stopping such periodic movement when the stopper has reached a predetermined seating position in the bottle neck, and means for simultaneously releasing both articles.

8. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including means for holding a stopper, means for holding a bottle, means for rotating one of the articles, means for periodically moving one of the articles into and out of grinding relation withtheother article, and means for simultaneously stopping such periodic movement and releasing both articles.

9. A machine for grinding together bottle necks and stoppers, including a spindle for holding a stopper, means for holding a bottle, means for rotating the stopper spindle, means for periodically moving one of the articles into and out 01' grinding relation with the other article, and a single means for simultaneously stopping such periodic movement, stopping the rotation of the stopper spindle, and releasing both the bottle and the stopper.

JAMES H. ROBERTS. CHARLES V. ACI-IAUER. 

